NEW ORLEANS, La. - East Carolina senior quarterback Shane Carden is one of 32 quarterbacks around the nation named to the initial 2014 Manning Award Watch List, which is sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Carden, who was named Conference USA's Most Valuable Player in 2013, passed for an ECU single-season record 4,139 yards and completed an FBS second-best 70.5 percent (387-of-549) of his throws with 33 touchdowns. The Houston, Texas prep product also ran for 10 scores, and against Ohio in the Beef `O' Brady's Bowl, caught a 14-yard TD pass to help the Pirates to a 37-20 victory.

A four-time C-USA Player-of-the-Week honoree a year ago, Carden engineered a Pirate offense that racked up 500 yards or more of total offense five times, including a pair of 600-plus yard contests. He was the lone C-USA quarterback with multiple 400-plus yard passing games (447/ODU, 480/Tulane) and authored a league-best seven 300-yard air efforts.

Nationally, Carden ranked among the top 15 in completion percentage (2nd), completions per game (5th/29.77), points responsible for per game (5th/20.5 pg), total points responsible for (6th/266), passing yards (7th), passing yards per game (8th/318.4 pg), passing TDs (9th) and total offense (14th/326.3).

The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that includes the candidates' bowl performances in its balloting.

Additional quarterbacks may be added to the Watch List after the start of the season. The list of 10 finalists will be released on Wednesday, Nov. 26. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, Jan. 14.

East Carolina, which will play its inaugural campaign in the American Athletic Conference this fall under fifth-year head coach Ruffin McNeill, was 10-3 in 2013 and successfully completed the program's seventh postseason appearance in the last eight years with a win over the Bobcats at Tropicana Field. The Pirates will open the 2014 season at home against North Carolina Central inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on August 30 with an 8 p.m. (ET) scheduled kickoff.